Inu 12: Book 2
by manekochan
Summary: The continuation of Inu 12. Yes, yes... I know it's been 2 years...
1. Revelations! New friends! What the heck

Inu 1/2

Where are we now?

At the end of Part 1 of Inu 1/2, Inu Yasha discovered that he could change back into a male by using hot water. He informed his brother of this revelation after a bit of thought. The two reconciled their differences and became tentative allies. Kagome, on the other hand, is completely in the dark right now and lamenting the loss of her puppy. She thinks he has run away. Miroku is having problems of his own trying to deal with his feelings for girl-type Inu-Yasha and Shippou has pretty much taken the group as his surrogate family.

Inu 1/2

Book 2

Chapter 1

Revelations! New friends! What the heck happened to you?!?

It had been a week. A week of waiting, a week of wondering, a week of checking every shadow, every strange noise, but still Maru-chan hadn't returned. Inu-Yasha had, much to Kagome's chagrin. He'd come back a few days after Maru-chan had run away, grudgingly asking her to come to the feudal era and help him out. It had taken alot to ask her. Kagome understood that, she respected that, she disregarded that completely and all but pushed Inu-Yasha out of her bedroom window. She was still mad. She still blaimed him for Maru-chan's disappearance. She couldn't prove it, couldn't even rationalize it, but she somehow knew it was Inu-Yasha's fault and nothing could persuade her otherwise.

That was days ago. Now, lonelieness was setting in. She sat at her window and looked out. par

_"If he comes back..."_ she thought to herself, _"I'll listen to him this time, maybe. He **won't** get me to go back there, but... maybe I'll listen this time..."_ She had softened a little. She wanted to feel that telltale tug of demon energy surging up and know that it was Inu-Yasha coming back to get her.

_"Maybe... maybe Maru-chan went back there..."_ she thought to herself. She had found the dog in the feudal era in the first place. It was his true home. Maybe she'd underestimated the pull it might have on him. She mulled this over. That could be it. That could be why he wasn't returning. Maybe he couldn't. Maybe he was stuck at the bottom of the well!!!

Kagome stood up immiediately, almost frantic with the new realization. She grabbed her enormous backpack, just in case Inu-Yasha decided to drag her off with him. If he did, she decided she wouldn't mind. Maybe she could convince him to look for Maru-chan. She blushed at that, seriously doubting it. Oh well. Maybe they would come across him by accident. She hated to leave for the feudal era without telling her family, but they knew where she'd be. Besides that, finals week was fast approaching. Best to get this out of the way now. She'd have to be back for finals. There was no way she'd let Inu-Yasha screw up her grades so bad she'd have to repeat the year and that's exactly what would happen if she missed her finals.

She hiked her bag higher up on her back and grabbed the straps. She wasn't wearing her usual school uniform. It was Saturday and a short day. She'd changed clothes after she'd left school. She wondered absently what Inu-Yasha would think. She very rarely wore anything but a skirt and today was no exception, but she did wonder how he'd like it. par

_"He probably won't even notice..." _she thought with a grimace. Her mouth set into a frown, she let out a sigh and trudged her way to the well house, almost heading back once or twice when the thought of Maru-chan reminded her why she was going. Taking a deep breath she leapt into the well, coming down hard on the other side. She looked around.

No dog.

No doggy bones, either. She let out a sigh of relief, shutting her eyes. She opened them again and slid off her backpack. She swung it a few times, experimentally and then tossed it up to the edge of the well where it precariously teetered and finally fell to the ground outside the well with a fwump. She grabbed the vines that trailed down the well and began to pull herself up to the lip.

---------------------

"What are you talking about? Of _course_ we'll find some more of them," Miroku said to the kitsune pup with a sneer. Shippou made a face at him and leapt deftly off his shoulder to walk on the ground.

Shippou shook his head. "The old flea said that he wasn't hearing anything lately and you haven't turned up anything different. You think we'll just happen on them by accident?" Shippou asked.

Myouga-jiji had returned in the last few days, but he had nothing new to report. He'd left again just as quickly (eager to avoid being with Inu-Yasha in girl form...).There was precious little news of the shikon shards lately. Whatever demon had them right now was playing it safe and hiding out. Many days ago, Inu-Yasha had said he knew of a way to find them and gone to the well. He'd come back with a murderous gleam in his eye and his clothing all dishevelled. If Miroku didn't know better, he'd have thought the demon had gotten into a fight but when Miroku asked all he got was a string of expletives and mutterings of, "I wish that puppy would have eaten her face off!"

Miroku shook his head in reply to Shippou. "I'm not sure, but I think we can safely assume that we need to move. There aren't any shikon shards in this area. Inu-Yasha won't listen, though. I think he wants to stay near the well."

Shippou scampered along beside Miroku. "But why? What's it for, anyway?" he asked with his face screwed up in thought. par

Miroku shrugged. They walked along. The well was in sight now and Miroku sat down on the grass. "I don't know. He seems preoccupied with it though." He stared at the well, stretched and let out a wide yawn, flopping backwards on the grass. Shippou hopped up on his chest.

"Hm... So what are we doing here?"

Miroku shut his eyes. "Seeing why this stupid well is so important to her," he said with a little jealousy in his voice. He'd done it again. Accidentally referred to Inu-Yasha as a girl. He sighed, his cheeks showing his embarassment. He ignored his mistake and plunged ahead. "He won't tell us, so we'll just sit here until we figure out what's so damn special about this well."

Shippou ignored Miroku's slip because he knew the monk would want him to. He wouldn't ever admit it, but he was hurting. As much as Shippou and he fought they really didn't want to hurt one another and Shippou knew that drawing attention to Miroku's unrequieted love for Inu-Yasha would only make the monk feel worse.

He sighed and cast a glance backward at the well. He was surprised that Miroku hadn't left the little group they had going. It was just too akward to stay. Indeed, the monk went off on his own alot... hours or even in one case, days at a time, but he always returned, unwilling to break off his alliance with the two demons. Shippou turned toward the well, and lay down, chin propped up with his tiny hands.

Soon, the both of them were asleep in the warm sunlight. An hour passed in that manner when something lit on Shippou's nose. He twitched, sneezing and woke himself to see a bufferfly flitting off into the air. He rubbed his eyes, yawning and sat up looking groggily out into the field in front of them.

Suddenly he sat up ram-rod straight, his eyes widening. He could feel it. The presense of shikon shards. Near here? How?!? They'd searched this area a hundred times in the last week since Inu-Yasha didn't seem to want to leave it. He hopped off of Miroku and onto the ground next to him.

"Miroku..." he hissed lowly, shaking the monk's arm as he kept an eye on the well.

A giant bag suddenly appeared on the edge of the well and Shippou paused in surprise. He began again. "Mirokuuuu!!!" he whined urgently.

The monk blinked and lifted his head from the ground.

"Hm?..." he asked, half-asleep. "Whas-as..." he muttered.

"The well--" Shippou said, pointing, his eyes wide with fear. Miroku's gaze hardened and he stood up. Shippou clutched his robe tightly for the slight comfort it brought him. Miroku began to stride forward.

"Shikon shards..." he muttered as they got nearer. A pale hand reached the top of the well and Miroku stopped, placing his staff in front of him.

"Hwaugh! My muscles are way outta shape for this..." said a girl as she drug herself up over the lip of the well. "Serves me right for not visiting here for a whole month. Whooo!" The girl sat on the lip of the well and swung her arm arm around in circles. par

"Um... Hello..." Miroku cautioned, a brow arched in half-confusion.

The girl immiediately went rigid and began to turn her head, one arm still straight up in the air from its arc. She blinked. par

"Um... hello..." she replied back, eyes wide with surprise. Internally she cursed herself. No one had ever been by the well before except Inu-Yasha and here she had just assumed it would be the same as usual. She edged along the lip of the well getting closer to her backpack and shielding it with her legs. Her brow furrowed.

"You have Shikon shards," she said as she backed closer to her bag. Crap. She looked at the little demon clutching the monk's robe. He didn't look like a threat, but you never knew. There were two of them. If they wanted to, they could probably take her. She swallowed and stood up slowly.

"As do you, my lady..." he replied.

Miroku regarded her carefully. She was pretty and she wore very strange clothes. He could sense Shikon shards on her or at least around her. He frowned at her as he examined her and then with a sudden look of determination he strode forward, Shippou trailing behind him clutching his robe and struggling to keep up,

The girl's eyes flashed in alarm and she raised her hands in fists to protect herself when suddenly the monk grasped one of her hands.

"Will you bear my children?"

Obviously, being in love was not going to stand in the way of his lecherous mission, especially since being in love with a guy masquerading as a girl wasn't apt to get him any heirs.

"Haaah..?!?" Kagome let out in disbelief.

Shippou blinked. "What?!?" he asked in a squeaky voice.

"Excuse me?!?" Kagome demanded, recovering.

"Would you bear my--"

"Oh, I heard you, all right, I just don't BELIEVE it," Kagome said as she tore her hand out of his grip and held it far away from him.

Miroku smiled charmingly.

"My lady; surely your own charms are not unknown to you. With your beauty such requests must often reach your delicate ears," he said with an almost sweet air about him.

Kagome furrowed her brow at him.

_...moosh..._

She looked down and caught the barest glimpse of a hand on her shirt exactly over her left breast. She didn't have time to get angry. Someone else did for her.

"MIROKUUUUUU!!!" came the roar from above as Inu-Yasha yelled at the end of a long leap.

Miroku blinked as if he were doing nothing wrong and leapt backwards, Shippou being bowled over and letting go of his robe in the process. Inu-Yasha landed directly in front of Kagome, his clawed hand burying itself deep into the ground directly where Miroku's head would have been. It had taken him a minute to get all the way back to the well when he had felt Kagome's presense. He'd been halfway to the village (and dinner, he hoped) when he felt it. It had surprised him. She had come on her own! He was elated. And then he'd seen Miroku. Admittedly, he knew the lech was harmless but Kagome was **not** going to be his plaything. As he pulled his hand out of the ground he was almost thankful that Miroku had incited him to anger. He would have liked nothing better than to hug Kagome and praise her return. His anger at Miroku reminded him that he should still be mad at her for refusing to help him the last time he went to see her and so when he finally stood up he faced her with an unhappy look on his face.

"What are you doing here?" he asked her snappishly.

Kagome went a little rigid. "What kind of welcome is _that_?!? You said you wanted my help, so here I am." She furrowed her brow at him indignently.

"Feh!" Inu-Yasha scoffed. "Days late. What if it'd been a life or death situation, huh? You were too busy worrying about your stupid puppy."

"St--- listen here, you!!!" Kagome yelled back at him.

"I'm not listenin' to crap!"

Miroku and Shippou glanced at one another sensing that this arguement could go on for hours.

"Inu-Yasha," Miroku called out.

The demon turned his head, barely giving Miroku a glance. "WHAT?!?" he barked acidly.

"You will introduce us to your lovely companion?" he asked with a nod. His eyes took on a more angry look as he realized who Kagome actually was-- his rival.

Inu-Yasha glared at him, narrowing his eyes. "You acted like you knew her pretty well a minute ago, Houshi..." the half-demon growled at him, baring a clawed hand.

At that Miroku smiled a bit maliciously. "Jealous?" It hurt that she... er... he... was back to calling him Houshi. He hoped it wouldn't last. Damn he hated this.

Kagome flushed, Shippou blinked, and Inu-Yasha, unsure whether Miroku was referring to being jealous of someone touching Kagome or jealous of Miroku touching someone else, simply got a look of absolute terror on his face. He paled, thought to utter a response and began spouting expletives.

Miroku grinned evilly at him.

"Kagome, Miroku. Miroku, Kagome. Happy?" Inu-Yasha spat out gesturing between the two of them.

"Delighted," Miroku said with a smile that he wasn't really feeling. He bowed deeply to Kagome. "Kagome-san," he repeated.par

Inu-Yasha growled a little bit, narrowing his eyes at the preist.

Shippou shook his head. "What about me?..." he asked, pointing to himself and not wanting to be left out. "I'm Shippou."

Kagome was to the point of being bewildered by all this. So much had obviously happened while she'd been gone and it confused her. Why was Inu-Yasha travelling with others? He usually pretended to hate other people and here he was with 2 new companions one of which he seemed to loathe.

"Um... Pleased to meet you Shippou," she said finally, bending down to greet him.

The little demon stood up straighter at being noticed and crossed his arms in satisfaction. Kagome couldn't help but smile and she looked back to Inu-Yasha her now placid face disolving his anger a little.

"You've gotten more Shikon shards," she said with a nod. She felt them on his. He had at least 5 new ones. Maybe 6 or 7.

"Feh! Of course. Did you think I was just sitting in the village waiting for you to come back?" he said crossing his arms.

Miroku's face flushed. Now that it was said that is _exact_ly what Inu-Yasha had been doing for the past week. If he hadn't of seen the girl come out of the well he might have convinced himself otherwise, but Kagome was the reason Inu-Yasha wanted to stay in this area.

"And I suppose these two helped you?" she said ignoring his posturing. Miroku bowed to her again glad for a chance to hide his flushed face from her and Shippou hopped up onto Inu-Yasha's shoulder.

"You're smart for a vixen," the kitsune chimed in, helpfully. Inu-Yasha gave him a glare that he didn't notice. "Old Lady Kaede says the Shikon jewel might be the key to breaking Inu-Yasha's curse."

Inu-Yasha went white. He reached up to grab the little kitsune pup and strangle him, but Kagome asked, with a shake of her head "Curse? What curse? What are you talking about?"

Miroku stayed quiet and Shippou noticed that Inu-Yasha seemed to be angry with him and cut short any reply he had been formulating.

Inu-Yasha growled to himself and Shippou slid carefully off of him, running to hide behind Miroku lest he face some retribution for letting out Inu-Yasha's secret.

"If you laugh at me I'm gonna kill you," he growled at Kagome. He was serious.

Kagome nodded. "What's happened?"

He turned away from her, embarassed. Miroku and Shippou backed up a little, Miroku averting his gaze and Shippou looking very scared that Inu-Yasha would stay mad at him.

He was silent for a minute. Kagome looked at him expectantly, letting him take his time. The silence wore on. Inu-Yasha would start to speak, his face would turn red and he would clamp his mouth shut before anything would come out. It went on like that for all of ten minutes when Kagome finally let out a sigh.

"You don't have to tell me," she said almost rolling her eyes. It was obviously hard for him to admit, whatever this curse was. par

Inu-Yasha stiffened at that. "Keh... No, I have to tell you. See, some magic water got dumped on me," he started, his face turning the color of a tomato.

"Magic water?..." she asked sceptically.

"Shut up," he barked. "It's hard enough without getting any smart-ass remarks from you. Just listen, alright?"

Kagome set her jaw. His response pissed her off, but he was right. She'd be quiet for a minute. She nodded curtly.

He began to fidget, avoiding looking at her and growling at the ground at absent intervals. There was silence again for the space of a minute and the entire time Kagome waited impatiently.

Finally, Inu-Yasha let out a great and discontented sigh. He refused to look at her. "The magic water cursed me and now...." He glared at nothing in particular. "Now I turn into a girl when I get hit with cold water."

Kagome blinked.

She was silent.

She blinked again.

"What?..." she asked to make sure she'd heard right.

Inu-Yasha grumbled. "I ain't repeatin' it. Listen next time I tell ya somethin'," he ranted, refusing to look at her. "I ... change back with hot water, but STILL.. You got no idea what I've been through."

Kagome blinked.

"So that's why you never came to get me?..." she asked.

Inu-Yasha sneered. "I didn't figure out how to change back until that day I came to see you. I didn't want you to see me as a girl. Happy?"

Kagome looked at her bag, avoiding Inu-Yasha's gaze. Easy to do since he was doing the same thing.

"And you think the Shikon no Tama can cure it?" she asked finally.

Inu-Yasha glanced at her. His voice softened a little. "Kaede says that if it can make a half-youkai into a full youkai then why couldn't it lift a little curse like this? I got no other options anyway."

Kagome was silent for a minute. Finally, she nodded. She slung her bag onto her shoulders and looked at Inu-Yasha. "What're you waiting around for, then? Let's go find the shards."

Inu-Yasha felt a tiny smile tugging at his lips and he scoffed to hide it. "Like we haven't been looking for them already," he replied. The smile showed up on his face anyway and Kagome smiled back. Shippou smiled, too, knowing that Inu-Yasha wouldn't be mad at him anymore and he gladly clambored back up onto the half-demon's shoulder.

"You think Lady Kaede has some dinner we can have?" Shippou asked softly.

Kagome smiled at him. "If she doesn't, I've got food in my bag. We can have some of that."

Shippou grinned. "Good cause I"m starving."

They started off toward the village, Inu-Yasha and Shippou looking hopeful both of them for different reasons. Kagome was just glad to see him again. Knowing that he was too embarassed to come get her made her feel better for the time she spent alone.

They walked toward the village.

None of them noticed that Miroku didn't follow.

Next chapter:

Miroku's not taking Kagome's arrival too well. Will Kagome discover his sordid little secret?

Letter from the Author: Yes, I know that you've all been waiting SO LONG! I have no excuses except for the one about me forgetting what I wanted to happen. I keep looking over my notes and going, why oh why didn't I write more?!? For instance, the notes for this chapter and the next one were: "...I.Y. asks Kagome to come back. Kagome stays in her world. Goes to I.Y. eventually. Finds out he 's 1/2 (here I forget-- is it eventually finds out he's a 1/2 or eventually comes back? Do you see what a different chapter it would have been it it was the former rather than the latter? In the essense of getting to the chapter I really REALLY wanted to write, I chose the latter.). meets Miroku, Shippou. Goes home for test."

Some of my notes are even more vague. I don't know what the hell I was thinking but imagine a one word explanation for a chapter and you see my dilema. Fortuneately, the scenes that I really want to play out are written with a little more explanation and also fortuneatly they are easy for me to remember.

I remember now why I started this letter in the first place. An explanation of the chapter titles... See the first book had chapter titles in a sort of Sailor Moon vein, or at least what I remembered at the time as being a Sailor Moon sort of title. --; Now I'm not so sure. Anyway, I was watching Blue Seed for the 10th time when I decided to write this and the titles are so horrible I can't help but imitate them.

"Let it bloom Japan! A blizzard of one sided love!"; "What?!? Oh, Man! Sakura's not good enough?!?"; "Surprise! She's the mother of science!" and other retartded titles... sigh... These may be lost on everyone but me... Ah well...


	2. What? I don't get it! Could someone plea...

Inu 1/2

Book 2

Chapter 2

What?!? I don't get it! Could someone _please_ explain Miroku?!?

The stop at Kaede's had been long, though it had been made long on account of them waiting for the priest to show up. Kaede had some stew made as usual and the group ate of it heartily. An hour passed before MIroku entered and when he did he was quiet, giving Kaede a nod of greeting.

"Did you eat, Miroku?" Shippou had asked as he played with a top on the floor of the hut.

Inu-Yasha glanced at Miroku guaging him.

Miroku shook his head and Kaede offered up a bowl of stew. He thanked her for it, finished it and gave her a solemn bow before turning to exit the hut once again.

Inu-Yasha stretched, standing up. "We better go while it's light out..." he muttered.

Kaede nodded and Kagome stood, smoothing her skirt and and retrieving her bag. She slung it over a shoulder.

Inu-Yasha and Shippou exited and Kagome would have but Kaede called to her.

"Tell me, Kagome..." she siad as she gathered up the soiled bowls the party had used. "How is your pup?"

At that, Kagome flushed. "He's run away, Lady Kaede... I came here thinking maybe I could look for him a little."

Kaede almost sighed with relief but the pained look in Kagome's face made her soften. "I'm sure he'll come back," she said with a small smile.

Kagome returned it. "I hope so..."

"Kagome..." Kaede started again. She cleared her throat. This was the real reason she wanted to talk to Kagome and she had used the talk of Maru-chan to detain her until the others were out of hearing range. "The monk does not like you overmuch." Even during his short dinner Kaede had seen it in his manner, though the monk was most cold to everyone of late.

Kagome nodded. "Yeah, I noticed that... What's with him? Wha'd I do?"

Kaede shook her head. "It is not my place to gainsay. His reasons are his own. Do not think too ill of him, though... His is a hard lot."

Kagome looked at Kaede carefully,

It was this conversation that fed Kagome's tired mind as they walked. They were an hour or more outside the village, Inu-Yasha leading with Shippou perched on his shoulder, Kagome following at his side, absently falling behind every few minutes and Miroku bringing up the rear.

It was a quiet journey. Shippou talked incessently at first, but soon enough grew tired of it and began to doze on Inu-Yasha's shoulder.

Kagome decided that she liked the little Kitsune and she asked absently how he came to be with them.

"Feh," Inu-Yasha replied with a half-smile. "Little mongrel tried to steal our shikon shards."

At that Shippou blinked himself awake.

"Who are you calling a mongrel, half-breed?!?" he growled at Inu-Yasha, his face reddened. He kicked Inu-Yasha in the head, which only made Inu-Yasha laugh. For being so quiet he was in good-humor. Shippou stuck his tongue out at him and leapt over to Kagome's shoulder.

Kagome smiled at him and Shippou told her the story of their meeting, glad of something to do. Kagome listened with patience and found that Shippou was an orphen. It surprised her a little since he seemed so well-adjusted.

Shippou, after the story was done, stayed on Kagome's shoulder.

"Do you feel anything?" Inu-Yasha asked as they moved on toward a forrest.

Kagome shook her head with reluctance. "No... Not yet. If we keep moving we might find something, though..."

Inu-Yasha frowned. "Blast... Where are they hiding..." he mused to himself.

They travelled for hours more, moving through the forrest and encountering precious few demons and Kagome began to understand a little better. The demons they did find did not bear any shikon shards. It was as if the demons in the area were hiding from something. Without a shard detector it was no wonder Inu-Yasha hadn't been fairing so well. They would have to travel farther. Kagome bit her lip. She still hadn't told him she needed to be back home tomorrow night. Her finals started Monday morning, He wouldn't like that at all. It would really limit how far they could travel. She'd have to tell him sooner or later but for now she held her tongue.

The grey of dusk began to descend upon them. Already deep in the forrest, it grew dark quickly until only Inu-Yasha and Shippou could see well and they resigned themselves to making camp.

Shippou gathered wood for a fire and Miroku helped him by holding it. Once the fire was going Kagome began to rummage through her bag for her sleeping bag. Finding it, she laid it out on the ground as close to the fire as she dared. Miroku watched her with a veiled curiosity. When she finished, she rummaged through her bag once again and found a box of cookies. She opened the box, pulled out the bag from inside and opened it. This she held out to Shippou who was currently prodding her sleeping bag with a suspicious look on his face.

"Shippou, would you like a snack?" she asked, shaking the bag.

The kitsune looked at the bag dubiously.

Inu-Yasha looked over at them. "Wha'd you bring this time?" he grabbed the bag, scrutinizing it.

"Hey! Kagome asked me, half-breed!!!" Shippou yelled, hopping up to snatch the bag back. The ensuing fight made Kagome and Miroku both smile in spite of themselves. It ended shortly with Inu-Yasha "deciding" he didn't like the cookies (although he hid several of them in the sleeve of his kimono) and tossing the bag to Shippou.

Shippou glared at Inu-Yasha and set to eating the cookies, marvelling that they had little pictures on them. Kagome watched him with a smile and even Inu-Yasha gave a grudging smirk at the sight.

"Do you always bring such neat stuff with you, Kagome?" Shippou asked as he devoured a handful of the little chocolate filled koala cookies.

"Keh..." Inu-Yasha rolled his eyes, knowingly. He would have said something on the subject but he had only just snuck one of his hidden cookies into his mouth and he didn't want anyone to know that he liked them.

Kagome cast him a glance before she answered Shippou. "I try to," she said with a nod.

Inu-Yasha finally swallowed, caught his breath and said, "Usually she's doubled over under the weight of the thing. Would be better for us if she brought half so much with her..."

Shippou ignored Inu-Yasha's words. "You should have brought her with us sooner!" he exclaimed, brightly. He finished off the rest of the cookies and scampered over to her back. "What else have you got?"

"Hey!" Kagome said, flushing. She grabbed the kitsune back from her bag. "Oh, no you don't. There's..." she didn't know how to put it delicately. "Girl stuff in there." The thought of any of the three boys finding a tampon in her bag made her shudder. They wouldn't know what to make of it and the two demons might try to eat it. She turned bright red involuntarily, shaking her head with vehemence. "No, no no.... Uh..." She set the kitsune down while he shot her another dubious look and she rummaged through her bag again to pull out a yo-yo. "Here," she said and she showed him how it worked. Shippou took over the task of making the yo-yo move along its string and was soon engrossed in it.

Kagome let out a sigh of relief that her feminine products were still undiscovered.

There was not much else to be done save rest and Inu-Yasha took to a tree that hung over the camp. Miroku chose to lean against that same tree and Shippou, tired of the yo-yo and having tangled it into a ball of knotted string, was curled up on Kagome's sleeping bag already deep into sleep.

Inu-Yasha's light snores could soon be heard in the little camp and it seemed that only Kagome was awake. She sat on her sleeping bag thinking for a bit, absently fingering the drawstring of her back pack. Before she knew it she had drawn out a can of milk tea. She looked at it and let out a sort of sigh. _" Guess I'm thirsty........ Or maybe I'm just bored...." _She swirled it a little and then popped back the top on it.

The noise of the can being opened, by now familiar to Inu-Yasha, went unnoticed by him but caused Miroku to open an eye and glance at the girl. Shippou remained blissfully oblivious. Not a light sleeper was he.

Kagome saw the faint movement and regaurded the priest. She lowered the tea.

"Sorry. Did I wake you?" she asked softly.

MIroku stretched his back a little and settled back against the tree. He shook his head. "I had not yet fallen asleep."

Kagome nodded in recognition. "Ah..." She set her tea on the ground carefully and Miroku watched her with mild interest as she set about finding something in her bag again. After a moment or two she came out with another can of milk tea.

"Catch," she said with a lop-sided smile and she tossed the can over to Miroku. He caught it easily, the prayer beads on his hand knocking against it sharply. He looked at the cylinder in his hand and raised an eyebrow at Kagome.

"Shake it a little and then," she picked up her own tea and pointed to the tab. "Pull the tab up." She demonstrated on her already open can.

MIroku furrowed his brow at her, but did as she said and was rewarded with a popping noise as his can opened. He looked at her again.

"Now you drink it. Cheers," she added, raising her can. She drank about half of it in a few gulps and let out a contented sigh, not really knowing how thirsty she had been. She smiled at Miroku.

Miroku followed suit and was surprised at how much he liked the drink. It was almost familiar. He had expected something wholely different from the container. He blinked. Casting a look over at Kagome he nodded his head to her in thanks and then said, "I thank you, Kagome-san. In truth I did not know what to expect but I dare say I enjoyed it." He smiled faintly.

Kagome smiled back at him and drank some more of the tea.

There was silence for a while as Miroku did the same and he shut his eyes when it was finished, bowing his head and giving thanks.  
When he raised his head Kagome was staring at him trying to discern something.

He blinked at her. "Have you finally become enamored of my boyish good looks?" he asked, falling back into his old patterns.

Kagome's face flushed and she shook her head.

Before she could explain he said, "Pity, that... Why, then, do you stare at me?"

Kagome looked evasively at a nearby tree. "I was wondering... You and Inu-Yasha don't seem to get along too well... Why do you stay with him?"

Miroku smiled a little. "Perhaps it is for Shippou's sake... would that be a sufficient answer?"

Kagome shook her head.

Miroku leaned back against the tree. "I seek a demon that is, mayhap, seeking the shards of the shikon jewel. It is best to have allies in this world."

Kagome kept her eyes trained on him as he spoke. "I suppose that's true..." She took another drink of tea.

Miroku smiled. "It is true, although had I known Inu-Yasha was friends with such a beauty as yourself I would have joined him earlier in the game."

Kagome set her tea down. "I doubt that... You flirt, but you don't like me much, do you, Miroku-san..."

MIroku's face flushed and his smile fell away immiediately. His gaze turned toward the forrest and he cleared his throat.

"It is true... Though the nature of my dislike is something that I will hopefully overcome in time. You win me over enough by simply being a woman," he said with a wry smile. "You asked me why I stay with Inu-Yasha," he said, raising his head. His eyes met hers. "The pain of staying, while great, would be nothing to the pain of leaving."

Kagome sat, confused.

"I thank you again for the tea, Kagome-san," he said with a bow of his head.

Kagome knew a dismissal when she heard one and she bowed her head in return. "Good night, then, Miroku-san," she replied and she set about manuevering her way carefully into her sleeping bag without upsetting Shippou or waking him. She needn't have worried-- he slept like a brick.

Against the tree, Miroku nodded to her and muttered, "Goodnight..." his eyes becoming downcast but not closing. He had much to think on.

Kagome turned her face from the firelight, Shippou curled into the space at her stomach. She stared off into the woods pondering what Miroku and Kaede had both said. True enough, Miroku was hurting, but Kagome couldn't figure out why. She saw in his eyes that there was something a little like hopelessness in him. Somehow he still managed to crack jokes and flirt but it was there in him all the same.

Sleep came soon for Kagome, although she didn't realize just how soon; to her it felt like hours but let's face it... if Kagome was master of anything it was falling asleep quickly. For Miroku it was a tad longer in coming, but it finally found him.

The small fire that the camp had made began to dwindle in the late hours of the night. It was still a fire; it was not yet burning embers, but it was struggling to stay strong and would lose the fight soon.

The forrest was loud with animals-- owls, frogs (who are perhaps the noisiest), rabbits rustling in the leaves, birds resettling, insects calling one another, even the occassional wolf making its presense known. The forrest at night is anything but silent especially in the spring. So, when a sudden silence fell over the forrest it was noticed just as quickly as if an alarm had gone off.

Inu-Yasha sat upright on the tree branch, his brow furrowed. He sniffed the air and rolled off the tree branch when he was satisfied with the smell he caught. He landed on the ground benieth the tree only feet from Miroku. The monk's eyes flashed open and he grabbed for his staff. When he realized it was Inu-Yasha that woke him he let out a sigh of relief, but Inu-Yasha's expression soon made him apprehensive. He stood up and faced the direction Inu-Yasha was staring.

"What is it?" he asked, placing his staff in front of him.

On the ground Kagome suddenly awoke, her eyes flashing open. She sat up, almost toppling Shippou into the fire. The kitsune shook his head as woke himself.

"I sense a demon aura..." Kagome said crypticly. "And a shikon shard." She tried to get out of her sleeping bag faster.

Inu-Yasha glanced back at her. "A shikon shard?"

Kagome nodded, kicking the bag off of her feet. Shippou hurridly hopped onto her shoulder.

"Kagome, Shippou, stay behind me," Inu-Yasha said drawing the Tetsusaiga. Kagome rummaged through the bag for her bow and arrows, finding them quickly. Before she had an arrow notched there came a crashing sound in the woods.

Miroku gripped his staff with determination.

The crashing grew louder and closer as the beat of hooves became apparent. The Tetsusaiga transformed in Inu-Yasha's hands as a giant boar crashed through the trees at them. Inu-Yasha leapt into the air and came down swinging the Tetsusaiga cleanly through its neck. The massive head fell to the ground and Kagome could swear she almost heard the thing sigh. Inu-Yasha withdrew the Tetsusaiga. It turned back into the rusty old sword as he sheathed it. Miroku plucked the shikon shard from its forehead and Inu-Yasha eyed him with contempt.

"That's mine, houshi..." he growled, fingering the hilt of the Tetsusaiga again.

Miroku shot him a winning smile. "I was merely making sure the beast didn't regenerate. Our agreement still stands," he said, though he was a bit disappointed that the half-demon was still so mistrustful of him. Inu-Yasha swiped the shard from his fingers hurridly.

"Damn right," he muttered.

Kagome lowered her bow and set it down on top of her bag along with the arrow. She approached the two boys as they established ownership of the shard.

"I'll hold onto that," she said quickly, as she swiped it just as easily from Inu-Yasha. "And, the others you're holding, while I'm thinking about it." Inu-Yasha's face turned bright red as she reached into his kimono and drew out a little bag with several shikon shards in it. She turned away from them and went to put them with the others in her backpack.

Inu-Yasha and Miroku stood blinking, Inu-Yasha finally crossing his arms and cursing. Almost two months without her and he'd forgotten. He turned his attention back to the body and began to examine it. There were claw marks crisscrossing its back. A thin liquid dripped from them, glistening in the firelight. It wasn't dark enough to be blood. Inu-Yasha sniffed delicately.

"Poison..." he muttered.

Miroku glanced at him.

It was obvious now that no one was talking. The poison was causing the body to rapidly decay, dissolving it with a quiet hiss.

Behind them Kagome added the new Shikon shards to the bottle. She replaced the cork and stuck the whole thing back in the bag. She stood up and went to join them at the body again.

"Oh, yuck..." she said as she saw the blood pooling benieth it. She tilted her head. "I think it's missing a leg."

Miroku and Inu-Yasha tilted their heads to look at the same angle. Kagome was right. It's right hind leg was comletely ripped off. Its left hind leg showed signs that it was near to being ripped off as well and the thing's tail was completly stripped to the bone, some of the last bones of the tail completely missing. It was as if the tail was simply dissolved off.

Shippou peeked out from behind Kagome at the boar's head, staring at the white foam surrounding its mouth, its tongue lolling out to one side looking bloated and stiff. Shippou stuck his tongue out in disgust.

Inu-Yasha furrowed his brow.

"What did this?" Kagome asked. Shippou leapt up onto her shoulder.

Inu-Yasha shook his head. "Another demon. I don't know the scent or I'd say Sesshomaru. I've seen his venom drive things mad before." He nudged the boar with his foot. Its ribcage caved in as the poison ate its way through the bones there. Inu-Yasha grimaced in disgust. "This thing..." He furrowed his brow. "It's like it wanted us to kill it..."

They all looked at the creature. Amoung all living creatures the will to survive is great. The boar demon must have undergone an emmense amount of pain to seek death over survival. They all thought it, though Miroku voiced it.

No one was going back to sleep after that, it was decided; not with the threat of a powerful demon looming over their heads. They sat up waiting for the orange light of dawn to make its way to the forrest floor. Kagome and Shippou, for all their protesting, fell asleep again anyway and were roused at dawn by the other two. They broke camp almost immiediately, Kagome fishing in her bag for a box of granola bars for breakfast. Not her first choice for breakfast, but, still... She still had some tea which she shared.

"Well, we got a new shikon shard, at least," she said a little too cheerfully as she rolled a can of CALPIS between her hands.

Inu-Yasha stopped what he was doing to narrow his eyes at her. Something was up. He shoved the rest of the granola bar she'd given him into his mouth and continued to stare at her as he chewed.

Kagome's face reddened a little and her eyes flitted to the tree line as she took a sip of her CALPIS.

Inu-Yasha stared at her and waited for her to drop the bomb....

"**_WHAAAAAAAT?!?_**" he demanded. "What do you mean you have to go back?!?" Inu-Yasha roared. He took a moment to down the can of tea he held as the granola was starting to make him choke. He coughed a little. "You've only been here a day!!!" he yelled, his voice a little scratchy from the choking. He coughed again.

Kagome winced a little. "I know... I know.... It's just that I need to be home by tonight-- tomorrow morning at the very latest. I have to go back for some tests."

Inu-Yasha narrowed his eyes at her. "What sort of tests?" he demanded lowly, his voice still scratchy. He shook his head. "No, nevermind, I don't care. How long."

Kagome bit her lip.

"Two weeks..."

Inu-Yasha blinked. "Two--- two we-- are you out of your mind?!? What sort of stupid tests take that long?!?" he roared.

Miroku and Shippou wisely stood aside and finished their breakfast as the discussion between the two went on. Shippou was beginning to think that Kagome was braver than he'd ever imagined.

Kagome's brow furrowed in anger. "They're finals, ass, and if I don't take them then I could flunk out and have to repeat a grade!" she yelled at him. "I don't LIKE taking them but I HAVE to. Be**sides**-- after they're done it's spring vacation. I'll be out of school for a month."

Inu-Yasha's ears twitched involuntarily. "A month."

Kagome nodded. "A month. Give me these two weeks and I'll come back for part of my vacation."

Inu-Yasha glared at her. "All of it."

Kagome glared back at him. She gritted her teeth. "I'll come back for most of it, you happy?"

She glared at him, angry that she had to give up most of her vacation.

He nodded.

"Fine.Whatever. Can we get the hell out of here now?" she yelled as she turned away from him and went to start shoving her things into her backpack. Inu-Yasha, actually, looked pretty pleased with himself at this turn of events and when they all started back to the well and Kaede's village it was Kagome that the rest of the group hesitated to talk to for fear that she'd bite their heads off.

It was almost lucky that Kagome was so angry. If she was not, she might not have missed the auras of two powerful demons and several shikon shards not so incredibly far away in the direction the demon boar had come from. It was lucky that she missed them. If she'd have sensed them she'd have steered the group toward them and though they could have reached the demons within an hour's walk of the well, not everyone in the group may have survived the encounter.

Next time:

Fate is a harsh mistress, though in Sesshomaru's case she can be downright vindictive. The gods of irony are hard at work in chapter 3 as Sesshomaru confronts the very demon our heroes have passed by.

Letter from the Author:

#$! Accidentally saved over chapter 2 with chapter 3!!! . Now I wish I'd saved it to disk first thing today. GRAUGH! Pissed off now, I am. The whole thing has to be re-typed. Grrr.... And I don't have it written down anywhere... GRAUGH! AHHHHHHH! And I was so looking forward to chapter 3... --; Well, you can bet chapter 2 is going to be shorter now.

Well, that turned out differently than the last one. Heh. Only I will ever know the difference. - There are some things I like better about this one and some that I don't. -- It can't be helped. Since I wrote it all on the computer I don't have a clue what some of the stuff was supposed to be. Ah well. I will tell you this, though-- in the last version, Miroku talked a little bit more to Kagome. It was a little less akward in the last one. I kind of like the akwardness, though. It's too bad I lost the conversation... --


	3. The price of arroggance A battle of two ...

Inu 1/2

Book 2

Chapter 3

The price of arroggance. A battle of two demons. Sesshomaru, what were you thinking?!?

The flesh hurt. Stripped of one hind leg and almost stripped of its other, the boar was running itself ragged trying to flee. Half absorbed, he'd been when he'd ripped himself out of the demonic mass. Now pain flitted through his mind. He sensed others; other demons; other shikon shards. A death by their hand would be far less painful than the death the other demon had planned for him. Running. That was all he was capable of. He wanted to put as much distance between himself and the other demon. The acidic poison in him burned like fire the more he pumped his legs, but he did not care. It only fueled his determination, his want for sweet death and release. He knew the thing persued him, drawn by his spilt blood and the lure of the shikon shard on his brow. It was slow in its coming, taking its time, sure of its usurping him. He ran blindly, the stump of his right hind leg churning a phantom leg. He could feel where the leg used to be, working and pumping. His body still sent blood there. He would pass out from blood loss but the shikon shard kept him moving, seering his forehead with a heat as it urged him onward.

He burst through a clearing and saw there a white haired demon. One strong enough to slay him. He steered toward it, barrelling onward, but the demon simply feinted to the right, allowing him to pass. Two months prior he would not have, but he knew the blind terror of a demon in flight. The boar demon cursed his luck. The demon had let him live and was now in the path of the other. He gnashed his teeth as he rode onward, feelling the pull of those others that might help him, might rid him of his pain.

Daylight dwindled into nighttime and still the boar road onward, blinded by pain, maddness overtaking him. He could not remember why he ran. He simply felt the pull and ran toward it. The forrest grew silent all around him, the animals cowering at the presense of the mad demon as it tore its way through the forrest. Then finally, finally, he sensed them. The creatures there maddened him. He had forgotten his mission was to die and he lashed out of the trees.

When the release came to him he was insensible of it, his frothing mouth spewed spittle and foam across the forrest floor. As he lay dieing the shikon shard was plucked from his brow and his soul sighed in release. How sweet, death... His body no longer felt the pain and he moved on thanking his rescuers.

-------

The boar appeared suddenly, bearing down on him.

He was startled. Two months ago, he would have simply slain it out of habit. Now he was out of practice, actions so natural to him before were now difficult to perform. He stepped aside quickly, allowing the boar passage and glancing after it with a well-checked curiosity.  
Sesshomaru looked at the blood trail the boar had left and smelt the acrid smell of poison as it ate the blood away. There was much of it in the boar's blood stream, he wagered. Enough to give the boar demon that crazed and mindless look. Enough to cause him to run blind into the forrest seeking death in whatever form it might find. He realized now that the boar had wanted him to kill it. Ah well. It was no concern of his. Funny that during the past few months his skills had been so undermined that he would allow the boar to pass on unscathed; that he would allow such a mercy, when in fact the boar had wanted the opposite. The irony was not lost on him.

He had been in the forrest for several days now. He was loathe to return to his castle. The mercy he had learned from Kagome would show itself as a weakness to those demons nearest his realm and, so out of practice was he, that he wondered if he could even survive facing them. No, he would not return yet. Not until he had honed his skills once again, driven away the edge of weakness and kindness that Kagome had given rise to. He came to the forrest to fight demons, to train, but for some reason the demons were few and far between. It could be his fault. The presense of a demon such as himself could be reason enough for the other demons of the forrest to hide. It was his assumption until he saw the boar demon. Whatever did this to the boar was the demon at fault. Of that he was sure.

He stood there eyeing the trail the boar demon had left.

It nagged him, the thought formulating in his brain. He could find this demon and fight it. It could not be that it was more powerful than he, Sesshomaru. True, he had two months of lounging and growing fat to work off, but he knew once he got into a fight that everything would fall back into place the way it had before. He was arrogant and confident enough still to believe this and with a nod to himself as he made his decision he started to follow the trail of the boar.

He'd been surprised, when he'd come back, at how much he'd changed. It didn't occur to him to take flight now, or to kill things on sight, or even to speak. He had been silent for so long that words seemed a little... superfluous to him. Not that there was anyone to speak to out here anyway. Jaken, his retainer, had fled before his fateful fight with Inu-Yasha. He wondered silently where the little demon was. The demons in the area had mostly fled. Sesshomaru was never much of a talker anyway. As for flying, he didn't miss it so much. He was sure he could still do it and had tried it frequently to make sure, but he found, oddly, that being a puppy for so long had actually made him notice his sensitivity to the vibrations in the ground. Many things could be sensed that way before they could be seen or heard or even smelled. Walking was not such a chore when it gave him an advantage like that. It was the same in his demon form if not more pronounced. As for not killing things on sight... He blaimed the whole of that on his stint as a puppy as well. And Buyo. That damned cat. He had endured innumerable indignities at the paws of that blasted feline and in the end had come to know the patience to ignore his annoyances. His first instinct was no longer to fight-- it was to endure (as in the case of Buyo and occassionally Sota) or to avoid (as in the case of cars, bicycles, etc, and also, when applicable, Buyo and also occassionaly Sota), but not to fight. It would not do for a Demon Lord to have such sentiments. That was why he was in the woods, seeking out opponents that were seemingly nonexistent.

Picking his way through the forrest, Sesshomaru came upon the demon before nightfall. It was a mass of flesh with strange, long arms that grew as if they were spewed forth involuntarily. He saw the remnants of other demons hulking benieth the skin. Most were placid, small creatures resigning themselves to their fate. Others were large and had strong wills. These were the horrifying ones-- the ones that lay in pieces inside the demon and yet they still tried to pull themselves out. Sesshomaru saw the leg of a boar floating in the flesh, being dissolved. It was nearly transparent.

"Abomination..." he muttered, his eyes narrowing. One of the massive clawed hands swept out at him slashing at the air as Sesshomaru leapt above it.

They fought the rest of that night, Sesshomaru unsure of his victory, yet unwilling to admit he had been foolish in seeking out the strange demon. For every blow the creature exacted on Sesshomaru, the demon lord retaliated with four. Every inch the flesh demon gave, the demon lord took twice that. They moved akwardly throughout the next day, the demon thing slowly retreating. Sesshomaru had hurt it and it was not used to things hurting it. It knew to bide its time. It knew that the demon it fought was coursing with its poison by now. It knew that it could track Sesshomaru down at a later date and finish him. And so the thing retreated slowly, as if Sesshomaru were merely an annoyance to it.

The demon lord himself was not fairing well and the thing's retreat was slow and it still fought him. The fight should have been over in hours but here they were... a day later... and both of them still lived. The day wore on, turning to night. The monster's slow retreat slowed even more as its wounds began to heal while Sesshomaru's wounds were kept open by the thing's stronger poison.

And Sesshomaru grew weary.

The second day of the fight approached, Sesshomaru's strength beginning to flag under the constant onslaught of claws and poison and disgusting sensations as it tried to pull at him and draw him closer. Caught once too many times in surprise he was slammed against a tree and he felt the sickening feeling of the flesh sticking to his exposed skin, drawing especially at the places that its poison had touched. The bones of his left arm ground as he strained against the creature and he yelped involuntarily, realizing that the arm, only just healed, was once again broken. Anger flared in him and he fought back again, fierce enough to make the thing begin retreating again. He shuddered on his feet and knew that he had to keep fighting it or it would heal its wounds and come at him again. He couldn't take it again. He knew that much. He was not stupid.

Desperation overcame him as the day turned grey and spiralled toward night yet again, their second day of fighting drawing to a close. He was weary beyond anything he had imagined possible, shaking with exhaustion, his eyes half useless from sleep deprevation and bloodloss. Yet he fought, driving the creature back with a tenacity that made it think that perhaps this certain demon was best absorbed dead and showing a burst of speed it had saved, it struck him a clawed blow to the abdomen before it retreated, running for good. It would find his trail again in a few days when it was fresh and healthy again.

At first Sesshomaru did not believe that the creature had gone. He stood shaking in the woods, his breath ragged, his arm useless, his eyes nigh blind and his abdomen seeping fresh blood. After no blows came for him for a few mintues he realized that it had truly left and he shut his eyes.

He had only a moment of peace before the pain from the poison and his wounds sang through his body and he sagged against the trees leaning into them to bear some of his weight. It didn't matter. His muscles still jumped and convulsed under his skin, the poison almost seizing them up. He realized that if he didn't keep moving the poison might succeed in fixing him there and, though his muscles protested sending firey jolts of pain through his body, he forced himself to move. He stumbled through the forrest, his right hand guiding him against the rough bark of the trees as his eyes became more blurred, his vision moving in and out... slipping away from him. He stumbled forward, groping for trees and falling instead against the ground, a field of tall grass surrounding him.

He lay there for a minute before he tried to move and then the pain came to him worse than ever. He drug himself to his feet and willed his limbs to move again, refusing to accept defeat.

He worked to move, akwardly staggering into the field, getting glimpses of it every time his heartbeat forced enough blood into his head and his eyes worked for an odd second or two before they faded to black yet again. He would pass out soon. He had to be somewhere safe when it happened. Otherwise he would wake up to find something munching on his intestines. Or worse still, not wake up at all.

Half an hour he walked across that tiny field though to him it felt like days. Through his pain he caught a scent. It was strong and close. He felt foolish for not noticing it before.

Humans.

He had exited the forrest near a village. He cursed silently to himself. If the humans saw him they would probably kill him. He turned to flee, urgency making his limbs listen to him even through the pain, but the poison was still strong in him and it clenched his leg in a spasm. It was distraction enough that he stumbled, his head falling hard against a rough hewn board. He felt his legs scraping painfully against another board as he was drug down by gravity and then he was falling, his consciousness swimming in and out. He hit the hard packed earth with a cry of pain.

He lay there, breathing, trying hard not to pass out. He heard movement, like the swift movement of cloth. Was someone coming? The idea frightened him but it also sparked hope in him. Then he realized it was his clothing. He couldn't feel himself shaking over the pain of everything else, but he heard it.

_"Ahh... the boar had the right idea..." _he thought to himself as his eyes began to close. _"A swift death would be preferred to this. Had I the energy I might kill myself... What is that noise?...." _ he muttered inwardly. After a minute he realized he was whining. He had been completely insensible of it. He imagined he smirked, felt his muscles pulling at his mouth the way they ought to. He did not, in reality. His musles were siezed by then. His eyelids, they still moved and when the world came into view breifly he could see that they were half-closed. He spasmed, felt something hot come onto his lips. _"Is that blood?... It is... Have I shit myself as well, I wonder?..." _ The world swam away again. His broken arm lay crushed benieth him. He'd landed on it in the fall.

_"So this is how I die... Blind and alone... at the bottom of a ditch. Heh." _He felt things slowing, felt his shuddering become more prominent than the pain and slowly he became glad for his loss of blood. It would help him pass out. He felt his thoughts becoming disjointed, fuzzy; slow. He opened his eyes feeling the lashes sweep upward just a little. Sight came back momentarily as he focussed through the net of eyelashes over his already clouded vision.

He was too groggy to be startled so he simply let unconsciousness overtake him as he stared up at Kagome's surprised and terrified face peering over the edge of the well.

Next time: Sesshomaru's in a familiar situation though this time Kagome's not the doting nursemaid she was in the past.

And the "Letter from the Author":

It very cold here in my house, but my hands feel it most. I find catterpillar on floor... Why? Why? It still live. Me think it come from vent. Me no like that idea. Why there catterpillar in vent? You tell Amber, yes? My hands are frikkin freazing. No more typing until summer. Ha ha. No I jest.

So anyway, this chapter was going to be less fighting and less stuck in the well and more of the next chapter, but... this is a good place to end it I think. The next chapter is the one I've been looking forward to so here's hoping I don't screw it up.


	4. Seshomaru? HERE? You're KIDDING me!

I guess I forgot that I already uploaded Chapter 3. Ah well. I was going to do some other stuff to this one before I posted it, but seeing as how I haven't touched it in over 9 months I might as well load it now.

Inu 1/2

Book 2

Chapter 4

Sesshomaru? HERE? You've gotta be KIDDING me!

Kagome sat at her desk, math book in hand. English hadn't exactly been a snap, but she'd passed it... At least... she _hoped_ she'd passed it. Nothing to do but wait for the grades now and dive into studying for tomorrow's two tests. Math was one. History was the other. Well, history ought to be easy as long as they stuck to feudal stuff. She'd have no problem. Hell, she'd even bring in some people from the feudal era if she thought it would help her grade any. She didn't think her teacher would be too impressed, but it'd be worth a try. She let out a sigh as she flipped the page of her math book, studying the formula for volume.

The rest of the family was already in bed. She really ought to be, but she needed to study. Math wasn't her best subject by any means and it was only succeeding in making her head hurt.

She sighed again, pushing back from the desk. She stood up and stretched a little deciding to take a little break. She slunk out of her room and tiptoed down the stairs.

_"Maybe there's still some senbei left I can munch on..." _she thought to herself as she entered the kitchen.

There were no little rice crackers to be found, much to Kagome's dismay. She silently cursed Sota figuring it must have been him that ate them, and she slammed the cabinet door. She went to the fridge.

"Ooo!" she exclaimed as she grabbed up a triangle shaped cake. "All mine..." she sing-songed as she quickly readied it to be devoured.

A few minutes passed and she was happy. Her cake was eaten and though she figured she'd get in trouble for it tomorrow, she was full at the moment and that is what counted. She relaxed as she sat on her little floor cushion and laid her fork beside her empty plate. She leaned back a little, her eyes closing and she almost... almost fell asleep. She shook herself awake and decided that it was dangerous to lounge around after eating so much cake.

She was about to go up the stairs when she felt it.

Her brow furrowed.

_"No... He wouldn't..." _ She paused, one hand on the banister. She sighed angrily. _"Yes... He would." _Almost growling in anger, she turned and headed for the genkan and the front door.

_"Barely a day! I should have known..." _ She tromped stubbornly out toward the wellhouse. Halfway there, she started yelling.

"Inu-Yasha, I told you TWO WEEKS! We made a deal! If you think I'm coming back with you you're--" she entered the wellhouse and looked around. Where was he?...

Fear suddenly gripped her.

"I-Inu-Yasha?..." she called out hurridly into the darkness of the wellhouse.

Something was wrong. She felt a sense of dread filling her.

"Inu-Yasha?" she called again, rushing to look over the side of the well. Maybe he was hurt! Maybe he couldn't make it out of the well. Maybe--

She looked down at the form of a demon at the bottom of the well. Her breath caught as she saw the white hair and all of the blood. For a moment, she thought it was him, but then a new sense of dread filled her as she realized who it truly was.

Sesshomaru's eyes fell on her lazily, almost as if he didn't see her or didn't care. Kagome held her breath as she watched his eyelids lower.

Sesshomaru.

Her blood ran ice cold.

Sesshomaru was in her world. Oh God. Oh God... He was hurt but... Oh God.

She stared down at him, shaking from fear. She stared for what seemed like forever.

She turned away from the well wide-eyed. She paced. She looked down.

He wasn't waking up.

She paced some more.

She might have paced longer, but even in unconsciousness, Sesshomaru's pain sent shudders through him and one of the tremors upset his broken arm and a whine escaped him.

She stopped.

She looked down again.

She bit her lip.

She went to get a ladder.

Now, hauling the dead weight of a large demon up a ladder is not the most easy of tasks and it took Kagome, addled by anxiety over the identity of her load, a good hour, but haul him out of the well, she did. Then she spent several minutes staring at him, pale-faced and shaking and doing her best not to run in the other direction.

Sesshomaru.

In her world.

Oh God.

What was going to happen when he woke up? He'd tried to kill her once before and that was with Inu-Yasha present. She'd only lived because the spell on the Tetsusaiga shielded her. There was no way to get out of it if he tried to kill her now. There was no way to save her family, either.

She looked at him, lying there on the dirt floor of the wellhouse, his body spasming occassionally, his left arm bending at an unnatuarl angle and his abdomen all but torn wide open.

Okay, so maybe he was in no shape to fight... and maybe if she patched him up enough he'd be grateful enough not to kill her.

She bit her lip.

Not bloody likely.  
She could always call Inu-Yasha here. If the demon tried anything, Inu-Yasha could subdue him in this condition. Actually, if she had a weapon, maybe even she could. Okay. That might work. She began to look around for a baseball bat. Or a machine gun.

---------

Warmth suffused his limbs. He felt a stiffness to his body. Perhaps he had slept wrong. He felt the softness of a bed under his back, the warmth around him, the smell he knew so well. He breathed it in. Kagome. He turned his head, his eyes opening groggily, focussing lazily.

His eyes widened.

She stared at him from the chair at her desk, turned to face him. Her breath caught quickly as she saw him wake and turn toward her. She was terrified. He smelt it on her. In her hands she held something. A board with a nail in it. He almost smiled at the absurdity of it, but he was too confused. What was wrong? Why was this happening?

He looked at her in confusion. He wanted to feel her against him. He'd had the most horrible dream. He'd lost her in it. He'd almost died. But she was here now. It would be alright. He would feel her hand on his head and he would forget that he hated it. He just wanted to make that look on her face go away. He wanted to make the fear smell go away.

He raised his head a little and meant to roll toward the edge of the bed, but the moment he moved pain wracked his body, rolling through him, shaking him as if he were a doll.

He heard a swear escape his lips and he lay back against the pillow, sweat beading his forehead.

His groggy flight from the forrest came back to him. How could he have forgotten that?

Blood loss. Sleep deprevation. Poison madness.

Ah yes.

He stared at the ceiling.

He was alive.

He was hurt.

He was a demon.

He was not just _a_ demon, but a demon who had tried to kill her. Ahhh. The terrified look on her face. Yes, that was probably reason enough for it.

Across the room, our of reach of his good arm, Kagome shifted in her chair. She was shaking. The room still stank from her fear.

"If you..." she started, her voice faltering. She licked her lips and started again. "If you hurt me or anyone in my family Inu-Yasha will find out and he **will** kill you."

It was only a half-lie if even that. Inu-Yasha would find out because he would come here eventually to get Kagome and he would not hesitate to kill Sesshomaru. Not here. That had been part of their truce-- he was not to go anywhere near Kagome. Sesshomaru also had the sneaking suspicion that if Kagome were truly imperiled in her world Inu-Yasha would be able to tell somehow and come running back. In his current state even Kagome might be able to handle him. Provided she kept her board with the nail... Maybe even without it.

Sesshomaru continued to stare at the ceiling.

"I w--" he started his voice shuddering and stopping in his throat as his abdomen contracted.His eyes squeezed shut against the pain. It was some few minutes before he opened his eyes again. Instead of trying to talk again he merely nodded and that he did only slightly.

Kagome swallowed nervously, setting her board aside.

She stood up, crossing her arms and trying to look imposing, her face stern but fear still hanging about her like a cloud.

"Do you want some water," she said as a statement.

Sesshomaru looked at her moving his eyes to scan her face. He tilted his head in a very slight nod.

Kagome nodded curtly in return and she left the room quickly returning just as quickly and shutting her door behind her. She held a glass of water shakily in her hands when she returned and she thrust it out to Sesshomaru with a, "Here."

He tried to move his right arm, but the poison stiffness was not yet worn off from his limbs. Doubtless, it wouldn't last long, but he had had scant time to recover.

He exhaled, from the exertion of trying to move and the exhaling itself drew another spasm from his abdomin as it clenched. He closed his eyes tightly from the pain and opened them again when it subsided. He glanced at Kagome. She eyed him carefully. He glared at her trying to get her to understand.

"You ... you can't move..." she realized. His gaze softened and he nodded slightly again.

She looked away from him for a minute as if deciding something.

"Alright... fine..." she muttered to herself. She came as close to the bed as she dared and held the glass to Sesshomaru's lips. She tipped it ever so slightly and Sesshomaru drank slowly. He closed his eyes as he drank, not realizing how thirsty he was. It had been days since he'd last had water. There hadn't been time in the fight. He felt the last of the water trickle into this mouth and he felt the cool glass being drawn away. He lay there for a moment, breathing softly, his eyes still closed. He wetted his lips and tasted the dried blood there. He opened his eyes half-way and looked for Kagome.

She had retreated to the chair again and she stared at him. The fear smell was easing a little, edging toward something like pity. He must be hurt badly to evoke pity in his enemies.

He tried his voice again, softer this time, barely above a whisper. It pained him. He wanted to thank her, but he knew she would mistrust it. He couldn't blaim her. Monthes ago he had been a murderous bastard. She didn't know of the change in him.

"Why..." he began, surprised that his voice sounded so strange to his ears. He realized he had paused and began again. "Why do you help me..." He dared not speak any louder, afraid it would require too much from him and he would go into spasms again.

Kagome looked at him fiercely, feigned anger the only way she knew to stave off the fear she felt.

"Because you're hurt," she said matter-of-factly. "And you may have tried to **_kill _**me before, but you're still Inu-Yasha's brother and whether he wants to admit or not, I think it would hurt him if you died." She kept her eyes trained on him. "Though _I_ wouldn't be so broken up about it..." she added under her breath.

Sesshomaru blinked. He turned his eyes from her.

"We have called a truce, my brother and I..." he said in his quiet whisper, trying to embue it with as much spite as he could. He resented that she hated him. He didn't want to admit that it hurt.

Kagome's brow furrowed. "You two?..." She didn't believe him.

Sesshomaru nodded slightly, shutting his eyes.

"I'll believe it when I see it.." she said, still staring at him.

"Believe what you will."he said, finally, flatly. He shut his eyes again feeling the need to sleep and heal. He breathed slowly for a while, but her ever-present fear hung about the room like a cloud. Finally, he opened his eyes. "Girl-- Leave me be. You have my word that no harm will befall you or your family. I must rest and your presense hinders that."

Kagome snorted in disbelief. "Sorry, but I don't put too much stock in your word. I'm not letting you out of my sight."

At that, Sesshomaru raised his voice. "Do not insult me, Girl," he growled, but his abdomen clenched and he closed his eyes, snarling against the pain. He coughed, his lips growing bloody. He licked them purposefully and swallowed slowly, forcing himself to calm down. He looked at her then with real contempt, angry and offended more than he would admit. He spoke again, softer this time, but his voice was still harsh. "I have honor enough to not harm the woman who has saved my life. Though if you wish to make an enemy of me anew, insulting my honor is a good way to do it." He stared at the ceiling again. "Now leave me."

Kagome blinked, surprised and not a little scared. Sesshomaru had such command in his voice that her body wanted to comply with everything he said even if her mind didn't. Still, he was in no shape to hurt anyone. He had proven that just now; the simple act of raising his voice had sent him into a fit. She bit her lip.

"Don't order me around, Sesshomaru," she said, finally with less coviction than she had planned. Reguardless, she stood against her better judgement, casting a contemptuous glance at Sesshomaru. She left the room, shutting the door behind her.

In the bed Sesshomaru stared in a little disbelief, wondering if her stubbornness had worn off. Then he heard the soft thud against the door. She was going to sleep with her back against it, playing sentry for her sleeping family.

Sesshomaru let out a sigh and shut his eyes. He was so tired... As he neared sleep the pain dulled and gradually, he drifted off.

Next time: I forget. It's been a long time...


End file.
